


Incorrect Assumption

by Lady_S



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: (it's just a throwaway line), Alpha Negan (Walking Dead), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Implied Mpreg, M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Modern AU, Mostly Gen, Omega Carl Grimes, Soft Negan (Walking Dead), and there's mentions of sex, except negan swears a lot, so it's M just in case, this is pretty cheesy and lame but ya know whatevs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 15:14:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15584736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_S/pseuds/Lady_S
Summary: In which Negan is a dumbass, Carl is an angel, Rosita is BAMF, and Rick's just confused.





	Incorrect Assumption

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first time posting to AO3! And my first time writing cegan! I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Come bug me on tumblr! My TWD/SPN blog is @grimechestr.

First things first, those commercials are bullshit. Coffee is _not_ the best part of waking up. Great, sure, but not “the best.” Negan knew better. The undisputed best part of opening your eyes every morning was seeing your mate asleep next to you.

 

Negan was the luckiest alpha alive because his mate was none other than Carl fucking Grimes, the sheriff’s omega son, who had a graceful and serene beauty that was rare for anyone, much less for any teen. But don’t be fooled by Carl’s sweet face and good manners, he didn’t get the “fucking” in his name for no good reason - he was a little badass, who could’ve easily chewed the alpha up and spit him back out with that quiet disgust and that one-eyed dagger-glare he’d perfected.

 

That graceful and serene beauty was enjoyed best when Carl was asleep. The omega seemed to allow himself to fully relax only in sleep, when he didn’t concern himself with how his earth-colored locks fell, or if his rosy lips parted, or even how much of his dough-soft skin was on display. In bed, Carl didn’t bother covering the scarred tissue of his eye socket, and with his remaining eye closed, he felt no need to scan every sight for mistake or danger, as was likely taught to him by his father. Negan was glad his mate trusted him enough to let his guard down, going as far as tilting his head in a way that his neck was shown off, even after Negan has bitten that area fairly hard to leave a bondmark.

 

Speaking of bondmarks, Carl’s was painfully visible, and Negan couldn’t resist leaning down and putting his mouth onto it before using his lips to nip at the skin. He knew the kind of reaction this got out of Carl when awake, but had never tested it while he was asleep before. After a few moments of teasing, he felt Carl shift.

 

“Fuck off,” he mumbled, eye still closed, “‘m sleepin’.”

 

“Oh, believe me,” Negan replied, keeping his voice low as he breathed over the omega’s neck, “I wish I could wait for you to finish your beauty rest. But! Some of us have to work.”

 

Turning over onto his other side, Carl muttered, “Have fun.”

 

Negan figured Carl was just playing grumpy, like usual, as Carl had never been a morning person. So he didn’t think much of it as he showered, dressed, and collected all his files for the work day. After checking to make sure he had everything, he returned to Carl’s side and kissed the omega’s hair.

 

“I love you, baby.” Negan told his mate.

 

Carl didn’t move, “Love you, too.”

 

Sensing that maybe Carl was in a bad mood (and shit, Negan did _not_ want to provoke that anger), he went on and got into the car to begin the thirty minute drive to work.

 

When most people asked Negan what he did for a living, they were usually shocked. They expected him to be a mechanic or construction worker or cop, so when he told them that he ran an omega shelter, it tended to raise some eyebrows. He didn’t care though - he had used his inheritance money to start the thing from the ground up, and he loved his job, he wasn’t about to step down. Excuse the shit out of him for caring about the health and safety of 33% of the population.

 

As much as he loved the fuck out of his job, the glaring drawback was how far away from home it was. The alpha instincts in his head despised leaving his mate alone for so long, especially since he’d graduated high school and that Judith was gone. Sometimes he felt Carl’s aching loneliness seep through the bond, and occasionally it was all-encompassing enough to make Negan misty-eyed, but when he rushed home to see what was wrong, Carl never said anything about it.

 

Now seated in his office (damn that drive was quick), Negan started to think. There had to be something nice he could do to alleviate Carl’s boredom. Maybe..he could take a longer lunch break and take his omega out to eat? Carl would probably like a small surprise like that. Besides, when was the last time Carl stepped foot out of his hometown?

 

Ignoring his paperwork for the time being, Negan grabbed his cellphone, and found Carl’s number in his contacts before hitting the call button. He put the phone up to his ear, and listened to it ring. And ring. And ring. And ring again, until about halfway through, the sound ended abruptly, and Carl spoke:

 

“Geez, old man still hasn’t learned how to text?”

 

Negan smirked. Carl hated talking on the phone.

 

“Nah, just thought this’d be faster.”

 

“Faster than texting?”

 

“Yessir.” The alpha answered, still grinning, “How would _you_ like to go to lunch with me? I can take off a little time, swing by and pick you up. I’ll even take you to that one restaurant you like, ya know, the one that used to be the old train station?”

 

There was a pause. For a second, Negan wondered if Carl was okay.

 

“That sounds great, babe.” He finally responded, “But..I can’t.”

 

A frown. “Why not?”

 

“Becaaausse..” Another pause. Was Carl...distracted? “Dad..already offered.”

 

“Already offered?”

 

“Y-yeah! When he came by for coffee this morning, he said he’d take me to the Cafe for burgers. I was in the mood for one, so I said yes.”

 

Negan huffed a little through his nose, as if aggravated at Rick for thinking up the idea first. “Shit. Well, I call dibs on taking you to dinner.”

 

“Awesome. I’ll be waiting. Love you.”

 

Negan’s brain was thrown off track slightly; he had planned to make a suggestive comment but it seemed like Carl was already done with the conversation. It was a little odd, but Carl could be a grump sometimes.

 

“Love you too, baby.”

 

“Bye!”

 

The alpha repeated the word back, but Carl had already hung up. Negan looked at the screen of the phone with a concerned scowl as if the device could explain what was up with the teen. He put it aside to refocus on his work.

 

He worked almost nonstop for the next few hours, rechecking expense numbers and refreshing his inbox for new emails. He only left his office once or twice to get more coffee or to check on a few familiar omega’s progresses. At one point, by the coffee machine, his chest pricked with a strange feeling, and it took him a few seconds to realize what it was.

 

Matebonds were powerful, but Negan never knew how much until he bonded Carl a year or so ago. After that first heat, he and Carl had a bit of a hard time distinguishing one’s emotions from the other’s, and it took a few days for it to settle. Now they had more control over the flow (which was _real_ nice during sex), so neither of them felt the other’s emotions unless they were powerful enough to overflow, in a sense. Negan had felt this random rush of feeling from his omega before, and he recognized it as excitement.

 

But what was Carl excited about? Negan checked the time. Sure, it was almost twelve, so maybe he was excited about having lunch with his dad, but Carl and Rick saw each other all the time (occasionally to Negan’s discontent), so it couldn’t be that. Was Carl thinking about dinner later? He didn’t seem that interested over the phone.

 

Negan shook his and blinked his eyes slightly before turning to make his way back to his desk. Carl probably read something about a video game or whatever. That sounded more like him.

 

The alpha stretched his arms and got back to the grind. It would be lunch time soon, but the shelter had decent catering, so he’d probably just bring a plate back to his office. He sipped the rest of his coffee when he heard a polite knock on the open door.

 

“Hello, Rosita! What can I do for you?”

 

The beta smiled quickly, before getting right down to business, as she always did. “Do you have the inventory count from the end of last month? According to this,” she held up a slip of paper for emphasis, “I should have more Level C suppressants than what’s in the storeroom.”

 

Negan frowned, before moving a little in the rolling chair to look at a filing cabinet. “Uh..Shit, I sure as hell should. Let me give looky-look here.”

 

He opened up the second drawer of said filing cabinet and started looking, “I know exactly what file it should be in,” he explained to the doctor as he did so. About halfway through the drawer, he frowned.

 

“I either left it in here, or I took it home.” he turned back to the dark-haired beta, and smiled nervously, “I think I left it at home.”

 

“Can you double-check?”

 

“You want me to drive home and back?”

 

She tilted her head. “What, Carl isn’t allowed to touch your stuff?”

 

Huh. Why didn’t Negan think of that?

 

“He’s at lunch right now, but I’ll call him. Do what you can until I get to the bottom of this.”

 

Rosita nodded, her pigtails bobbing along with her head, before she turned to leave Negan’s office. As she did so, she called over her shoulder, “ _Muy importante_ , Negan!”

 

“ _Muy importante_!” he echoed, before retrieving his phone to call Carl again.

 

Like before, the phone rang, and rang, and rang and rang, but unlike before, Carl didn’t pick up, and it went to the teen’s voicemail. Negan tried a second time, but got more ringing and more voicemail. Okay, so maybe he left his phone at home. Let’s call Pricky Dicky Ricky.

 

Negan had to look a little harder for Rick’s number, but still had it in case of emergencies. After two rings, Grimes Senior picked up.

 

“Rick Grimes.”

 

“Oh come on, Rick, don’t give me that typical cop greeting bullshit! It’s me, your son-in-law!”

 

Negan wasn’t sure if Rick was actually sighing or if he was imagining it. “Hello, Negan. How are you?”

 

“I’m doing peachy! Thanks for asking.” He couldn’t help but grin - a part of him liked getting on Rick’s nerves, “Listen, Carl isn’t picking up his phone, and I need to ask him a favor. Do you mind sliding the phone over and letting me talk to him?”

 

There was a good five seconds of confused silence from Rick’s end.

 

“..Carl isn’t with me.”

 

“He’s not?” Negan’s voice suddenly had an edge of anger in it, “He said you were taking him to the Cafe for burgers.”

 

It was like Negan could hear the other alpha’s shrug. “I’m in the squad car with my sandwich. Tara’s on heat-leave, so it’s just me.” A beat. “It’s not like him to flat out lie.”

 

Negan must have been quiet for a long, because at some point Rick asked, “You okay?”

 

“..Yeah, it’s all peachy. I’m sure he just got the days confused.” Desperate to end the phone call, Negan rushed the conversation to a close, “Thanks for your help. See you.” Then promptly hung up before Rick could say anything else.

 

Negan sat at his desk, trying to get back to work, but his mind wanted to unravel this mystery. Carl had lied about going to lunch with Rick. And it was completely baffling - if he was feeling bad or just didn’t want to go anywhere, he would have told Negan up front, something like _sorry, babe, I’m not feeling well, maybe when I’m better_ or even _I’m not really in the mood today, how about Saturday._ Straight up lying to the alpha’s face? Carl never did petty shit like that! His little badass said what he meant to Negan! It was a part of the omega’s charm!

 

So, Carl had an ulterior motive. He didn’t want to go to lunch with Negan. But he agreed go to dinner, so it couldn’t be that he didn’t want to go out _at all_ , just not lunch. Why not? What was it about lunch? Negan tried to think of more clues from Carl’s behavior that day. He was a little grumpier than normal that morning...he sounded distracted when talking to Negan….he wouldn’t answer his phone……

 

Negan suddenly felt a stab of adrenaline in his chest, a repeat of the emotional overflow from earlier, and then clicked the puzzle pieces together as a horrible thought dashed across his brain..

 

_Carl was cheating on him._

 

It was the only logical explanation. Carl was irritated that morning because he was ready for Negan to hurry up and leave; he was distracted over the phone and then wouldn’t answer it because his lover was there; he was lying because he hoped Rick would cover for him; and the excitement, it wasn’t normal joyous excitement, it was...

 

Negan dropped his pen upon realization, then put his head in his hands. He wasn’t sure what emotion he was supposed feel first - fury? despair? confusion? - so they somehow all crashed over him at once. His entire mind went into chaos. When did this start? They’ve only been bonded about a year, so was this recent? Or did Carl always have someone on the side? _Why_ did this even start? Sure, they didn’t fuck day and night, but the sex was still pretty damn great, so was it more of an emotional thing? Was Negan not affectionate enough? Did he not communicate well? He and Carl didn’t really fight, not even when Negan was a little drunk, but maybe something happened that he turned around and forgot about? Maybe…

 

As his normal, rational, human brain swam with all these questions, something slowly began to awaken in the back of his mind. His inner alpha began to prickle and interject itself into his thoughts:

 

 _Someone is putting their filthy hands on what is rightfully_ **_mine_ ** _._

 

Negan stood straight up, ignoring what it did to the office furniture, having skipped over the despair phase and gone immediately from confusion to fury. The alpha in him was beginning to take over his thoughts, and as hard as he was trying to fight it, the anger wasn’t subsiding. Either way, he had to go, _now_.

 

He scrambled to grab his keys before he swiftly left the office and closed the door behind him. As he was quickly making his way down the hallway, he saw Rosita getting a water from the employee fridge, and called to her:

 

“Close up the office, will you? I’m taking the rest of the day off.”

 

Rosita’s eyes widened at she turned to look at a clock, then followed after him. “It’s 2:30, where hell are you going?”

 

“Home.”

 

“Is something wrong?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Rosita’s momentary silence screamed her bewilderment. “Okay, so you gonna share with the class?”

 

“It’s personal.”

 

Sensing she was going to protest again, he turned on his heel to stop her by the front doors, “Rosita, I can’t guarantee how much longer it’ll be before I lose my cool.” The beta seemed to recognize that phrase, taking it as a code, “And when I _do_ lose my cool, I _do not_ want it to be in a shelter full of _omega abuse victims_. Do you?”

 

Her dark eyes flickered away, backing down from the argument. “Fine, go.” she took a step back, looking like she wanted to say more, but she just turned her head and stomped off.

 

Negan rolled his own eyes and exited the building, making a note to apologize to her later. He got into the car and peeled out of the parking lot with little regard for other drivers.

 

He didn’t remember much about the drive back home, though he was sure he sped, and maybe even ran a red light. Oh, well. Rick could give him a ticket later.

 

Finally, Negan arrived at the house, but didn’t even bother putting the car in the garage and instead left it in the driveway. He ran up the steps, threw open the front door, and bellowed into the house so loud he almost used his Alpha Voice:

 

“ _What the hell are you doing_?!”

 

He crossed the foyer, and turned the corner to the living room, but found it empty. He spun around towards the kitchen and completely froze.

 

Carl was standing over the island, rolling pin in hand. He had on his apron, which was stained in white and red, and had tied his hair back with a handkerchief. The island itself was covered in flour, and there were jars and boxes littered all over the counters. Carl had also set out the crock pot, and there was a saucepan sitting empty on the stove top.

 

“Happy birthday, I guess.” he finally spoke.

 

Oh fuck. Oh _fuck_.

 

Today was Negan’s birthday, wasn’t it?

 

The alpha took a step forward, scanning Carl’s form, still scowling. “What’s all this?”

 

Carl smiled a little, and let out a single laugh, “It’s your present. I wanted to surprise you with your favorite meal.”

 

He let go of the pin and wiped his hands on his apron, then motioned to Negan to come closer. He turned to the crock pot, and unsnapped the lid before lifting it off completely. The wonderful aroma of the food inside it wafted out, hitting Negan like a wall.

 

“Is that..spaghetti?” he asked.

 

“Not just any spaghetti.” Carl said, pride obvious in his voice, “Great-Aunt Gretchen’s crock pot spaghetti and meatballs. The best spaghetti ever.”

 

Negan pointed to the island, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Crust. For the cherry pie.”

 

The alpha leaned back onto said island, running his hands over his face.

 

“The spaghetti’s got another hour and a half before it’ll be ready, and I haven’t even started on the pie filling yet. I-I didn’t expect you back so soon. I had planned for everything to be done around the time you got h-”

 

Carl’s explanation was cut off by Negan wrapping him up in his arms. “I am so sorry for bargin’ in like that.” He nuzzle his omega’s neck slightly, as a way to emphasize his apology. After a few moments, he pulled away from Carl enough to look at him face-to-face, but didn’t let go of the embrace. “Thank you _so_ _damn_ much.”

 

“You’re..welcome.” Carl replied after a few seconds, concern plastered all over his countenance, “Are you okay?”

 

Negan let out a long sigh, then rested his forehead on Carl’s. “I am now. I just kinda lost my shit at work.”

 

Carl jerked back, going from concerned to panicked. “What happened?”

 

“Well,” Negan pursed his lips for half a second, not at all sure he wanted to admit this, “I came to the conclusion that you were cheating on me and- hey, don’t scoff at me!”

 

The omega rolled his eye and smiled, leaving Negan’s arms to return the lid to the crock pot. “That’s dumb, even for _you_.”

 

“Excuse you, I had good reason to think so.”

 

“Oh yeah? How’s that?”

 

“Well, for starters, you were a little prick this morning-”

 

“I’m a little prick every morning, but go on.”

 

“Then you lied about being with Rick...”

 

“That was to keep the secret.” Carl paused in the middle of rolling the dough, “Wait, how did you know about that?”

 

“I called him.”

 

“You called Dad? Since when do you _voluntarily_ call Dad?”

 

“Since a certain someone doesn’t answer his goddamn phone!”

 

Carl looked confused for a second, scrunching his nose up like he always did, until his eye widened in realization.

 

“Oh shit, that’s right. You _did_ call me.”

 

“Yeah!” Negan added, drawing it out to sound a little condescending.

 

“I’m sorry. I had flour on my hands when you called, and then I got busy and forgot.”

 

Negan made a ‘hmm’ noise to signal he understood, before falling into silence to think this over. He had to admit, he was pretty damn glad he was so fucking wrong. After a few minutes, he  stood up all the way and walked to the refrigerator.

 

“Did you stomp out of the office?” Carl asked, not looking up from the dough.

 

“I sure did.” Negan replied. He swung open the door of the refrigerator and whistled. “Shit! Babe, did you buy me beer?”

 

“No, Dad did. That’s why he came by this morning.” He paused, then turned and glared at Negan. “Are you actually getting one?”

 

Negan looked down at his beer, than back at Carl. “Uh..yeah.”

 

“Did you have lunch?” The teen asked.

 

Negan thought back to his day, and remember that no, he had skipped lunch. Knowing better than to drink on an empty stomach, he silently put the bottle back in the pack and closed the door.

 

“Thank you.” Carl said calmly, “What’s the time?”

 

  
“It’s...3:03.”

 

The omega sighed. “Babe, you need to go back to work.”

 

“I told Rosita I was taking the rest of the day off. It’s all fucking peachy.” Negan reassured him.

 

Apparently, he wasn’t listening. “Why don’t you go into the office upstairs and get a little work done. I’ll let you know when dinner’s ready.”

 

The alpha frowned. He didn’t really feel like it, but Carl’s words left no room for argument. Besides, he still needed to find that inventory for Rosita.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The spaghetti was, in fact, the best spaghetti Negan had _ever_ had, and he made sure to let Carl know. The pasta was al dente, the meatballs were just the right size, and the sauce had just the right seasonings. Whoever Great-Aunt Gretchen was, she was a boss at cooking. He ate that shit _up_ , and made a bit of a display of it, too.

 

The pie was also good, even if the filling was just a little too tart for his liking, but the vanilla ice cream helped balance that out. The best part, however, was seeing the red from the cherries stain Carl’s lips, and Negan was suddenly a lot more interested in eating something else.

 

To make up for ruining the surprise, Negan offered to help Carl clean up. They scrubbed the island and the counters, cleaned the all the dishes, and even mopped up some sticky cherry residue from the floor. It wasn’t necessarily romantic, but it was nice just to spend time with his mate, and make him smile.

 

“I’m sorry for scaring you earlier.” Carl confessed, scrubbing off marinara sauce off one of the last plates, “I just wanted it to be a surprise.”

 

“It’s not your fault, baby,” Negan told him, “I was a complete dumbass for thinking you could cheat on me. Shows how fucking insecure I am.”

 

Carl shrugged, then handed him another plate to dry. “We all get paranoid.” he paused in thought, “I guess next time I want to be spontaneous, I’ll just tell you there’s a surprise, but not what it is.” he looked to Negan, tilting his head in that sweet way, “How about that?”

 

The alpha nodded, “Sounds great!”

 

Carl nodded, satisfied with that, grabbed a glass to wash next. “Now I gotta come up with something bigger for your 50th birthday.”

 

Negan grinned playfully, “Not gonna be a baby, is it?”

 

Carl stopped washing, and pursed his lips like he was seriously considering it.

 

“I’ll think about it.”


End file.
